I have previously read David A. Bednar's famous CES Fireside talk and an article a... ahem, certain professor of mine helped write. Having reread them, a study Elder Bednar referenced struck me as odd: it said 40% of guys and 53% of the ladies who are online said they considered their online friends to be better than their friends in real life. But... but that's saying the females have a higher percentage, you say! I realize that, I would've guessed the other way around too, given the stereotypes. It makes sense, however, when considering most females are more sensitive to the "ideal image". Ah, perhaps those that feel they aren't up to snuff are looking elsewhere to fit the "image", men and women! Yet the Lord values our real bodies, not our fake ones, and what anyone else thinks shouldn't matter as much.
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My second post on Pokemon should be coming up this next weekend, if everything goes well... if everything goes well. *rolls eyes*
THAT's what you got out of the article? Interesting...
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can totally see women getting into creating avatars for themselves because they can make them look perfect.
ReplyDeleteFor both men and women, I think it's instructive to consider the idea that reality is here to stay, but the images in the virtual world evaporate once the servers cease to function. But of course, it's easier said than done to think about an idea and overcome an addiction.
ReplyDeleteToday with the new online hooks for women it is even more common to have addicted woman. They might not be play video games but they are pinning on Pintrest and sharing shopped images on Instagram. I'd say video games are more stigmatized that other online content but they are both bad. I know girls who spend hours and hours on pintrest each day.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if women necessarily consider their online relationships to be better because their self-image can be idealized online. It could also be the fact that they are better or more inclined to create friendships online than men. It may be that online relationships fit more to the style of how females carry on relationships. I don't disagree entirely, but there are definitely other factors at play.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't thought about that before, I can totally see that. People get lost in the Internet to create an ideal image of themselves.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for your comments, guys! I should say that I totally got more out of the two readings than that, but I wanted to focus on something less thought about in my post. I like the reactions to it.
ReplyDelete@Ty: I'll give you that there are other things that contribute to a virtual addiction for women; again, I just wanted to focus on one aspect for this post, but I do agree with you in that some women might like the idea of having a relationship/friendship online instead of in person.